Fire lighter composition



United States Patent 3,236,611 FEE LIGHTER COMPOSITION Henry Behnke and Donald E. Dick, Madison, Wis., assignors to Mantz Paint and Varnish Company, Madison, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin No Drawing. Filed Oct. 29, 1962, Ser. No. 233,859 2 Claims. (Cl. 447) The present invention relates to a novel lighter composition and more specifically to a composition for use in lighting fires such as charcoal fires, wood fires and the like.

Lighter fluids have been used for some time to light various types of fires including the well-known cookout fires using charcoal briquettes. The light fluids have worked fairly well for this purpose but have been known, unless carefully applied to have a tendency towards excessive flaming on lighting and, in some cases, also to smoking. As the inflammable lighter fluids are necessarily carried in containers, e.g., metal cans, and are subject to spilling, attempts have been made to compound a non-spillable semi-solid jelly-gasoline type product. This type product, however, proved unsatisfactory as it was subject to uneven flaming approaching the explosive type with the development of large amounts of smoke.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a safe and yet efficient composition for lighting fires.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a lighter composition which will burn evenly, without excessive flaming, and without the development of smoke.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a semi-solid, non-spillable lighter composition adapted for dispensing in a collapsible tube.

Other objects will be apparent as the description proceeds.

In research in this field looking for improved lighter compositions meeting the objects noted above, it was discovered that a lighter composition of the type desired could be prepared by mixing an organophilic cationmodified clay with petroleum or mineral spirits, i.e. ligroin, and then combining the resulting mixture with a small amount of a lower alkanol such as methanol and ethanol or mixtures of the same, e.g., denatured alcohol made up by volume of about 95% ethanol and about 5% methanol.

The cation-modified clays of the present invention are clays of the bentonite and montmorillonite type with long hydrocarbon .alkyl chains (-18 carbon atoms), and are characterized by the ability to swell and form gels in organic liquids. They can be prepared as described in Hauser Patent No. 2,531,427 .and are referred to as organophilic cation-modified clay, such as bentonite or montmorillonite, modified with an onium radical of the class consisting of ammonium, phosphonium, oxonium, sufoniurn, arsonium, stibonium and telluronium having at least one alkyl substitutent containing at least 10 carbon atoms in a straight chain. See Lowell Patent No. 2,823,140, column 9, lines 23-36.

The optimum amounts of materials used in the present invention can vary somewhat as, for example, by weight from about 8.5 to 9.0% modified clay, about 2 to 3% lower alkanol with the remainder, about 88 to 90%, petroleum spirits. A preferred composition is shown in the following illustrative example.

Example Percent Dimethyl dioctadecyl ammonium bentonite 8.7 Denatured alcohol 2.5

Petroleum spirits (odorless) 88.8

The organophilic cation-modified bentonite is first thoroughly mixed with the petroleum spirits. The denatured alcohol is then added to the resulting mixture with continued vigorous stirring. The mixture then sets up into a semi-solid thixotropic gel which is packaged in the conventional manner in collapsible metal tube form.

In the above example, it will be understood that equivalent modified clays with similar or like alkyl substituents including magnesium montmorillonite (Bentone 38) can also be used. In the above example, it will also be understood that the denatured alcohol made of about ethanol denatured with about 5% methanol can be replaced by methanol or ethanol or various other mixtures of the same.

The compositions of the present invention burn evenly Without excessive flaming and without smoking, and have been found easy to apply to charcoal, wood and the like for starting fires. In practice the non-spillable compositions of the present invention carried in collapsible tubes have also been found to be relatively safe. In addition, with the removal of the conventional cap from the top of the tube, the tube per se serves as an evenly burning torch, with small amounts of the composition being extruded when necessary to maintain the flame. This, along with the inherent advantages in the use of a lighter composition in collapsible tube form, have made the product of the present invention of particular Value for use on outdoor camping trips where it is desirable to keep the gear down to a minimum and there is frequent need for a readily available torch as Well as a composition for starting camp fires.

It is claimed:

1. A fire lighter composition consisting essentially by weight of about 8.7% dimethyl dioctadecyl ammonium bentonite, about 2.5% of a lower alkanol selected from the group consisting of methanol and ethanol and mixtures of the same and about 88.8% petroleum spirits.

2. The fire lighter composition of claim 1 where the lower alkanol mixture consists of about 95% ethanol and about 5% methanol.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,752,935 4/1930 Wyler 447 2,385,362 9/ 1945 Laliberte 447 2,531,427 11/1950 Hauser 252-317 2,801,910 8/1957 Villa 447 2,823,140 2/1958 Lowell 26089.5 2,859,234 11/1958 Clem 447 3,095,334 6/1963 Scurlock 447 DANIEL E. WYMAN, Primary Examiner.

I. VAUGHN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A FIRE LIGHTER COMPOSITION CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY BY WEIGHT OF ABOUT 8.7% DIMETHYL DIOCTADECYL AMMONIUM BENTONITE, ABOUT 2.5% OF A LOWR ALKANOL SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF METHANOL AND ETHANOL AND MIXTURES OF THE SAME AND ABOUT 88.8% PETROLEUM SPIRITS. 